The Clerk Of Smith County, East Texas Is Prosecuted For Refusing To Issue A Marriage License To A Lesbian Couple

The fact that the Supreme Court has legalized last week the equal marriage in all 50 American states does not mean that its opponents have disappeared, like Karen Phillips, a clerk in Smith County, East Texas, who refused to issue a same-sex marriage license.

Indeed, Karen Wilkerson and Jolie Smith went to the Smith County vital statistics office for a marriage license, but the clerk gave them a «straight» form, with spaces for «male» and «female», not the neutral form because it supposedly had not yet been updated. Except that the clerks in Dallas and in Austin, for example, had already begun to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Then, given the unwillingness of the clerk, Karen and Jodie clearly requested that she follows the US law and provide them the proper form. Philipps refused, Karen and Jolie filed a complaint.

Be aware that some politicians and clerks have announced that they would not update their forms until someone officially directed them to do so.